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USPTO Issues Updated Guidance on Patent Eligibility

Patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. ยง 101 has been an area of significant change in recent years.  Several Supreme Court decisions have changed our understanding of what does and does not qualify for patent protection.  These decisions, in turn, have required a change in the procedures implemented by the USPTO during the examination of patents. […]

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Google Patents and Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)

Users of Google Patents might have noticed a recent update. In addition to a new interface and layout, the most exciting innovation is an improved searching function. As background, patentability requires an invention be novel and non-obvious. To determine whether these legal requirements are satisfied, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) substantively examines pending patent […]

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USPTO Announces Expedited Patent Appeal Program

On June 15, 2015, the USPTO announced in a Federal Register Notice that they will be commencing the Expedited Patent Appeal Pilot Program. This initial program will be available until either 2,000 ex parte patent appeals are expedited under the program, or until June 20, 2016, whichever occurs first. Typically, appeals are taken up by […]

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Michelle Lee Confirmed as USPTO Director

The Senate on Monday confirmed the White House’s nominee for the long-vacant director position at the USPTO. Director Lee had been serving as Deputy Director and acting Director for over a year, pending the nomination process. Director Lee takes over for former-Director Kappos, who left the position in February 2013. The confirmation has been both […]

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Trade Secret Symposium

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is hosting a Trade Secret Symposium on Thursday, January 8, 2015 at its headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. This symposium is the first of its kind for trade secrets. More information is available on the USPTO website. Both live and webcast attendance is available for this event. The USPTO symposium […]

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USPTO Releases New Guidelines on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility

The USPTO today released new Guidance on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility. The new guidance comes nearly 9 months after the first set of “2014 Procedure For Subject Matter Eligibility Analysis Of Claims Reciting Or Involving Laws Of Nature/Natural Principles, Natural Phenomena, And/Or Natural Products“ were released in March 2014. The March guidelines sought to implement […]

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USPTO Publishes its 2014 Patent Public Advisory Committee Annual Report

The Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) for the USPTO published its Annual Report for the 2014 fiscal year. The annual report is directed to the President of the United States and addresses many issues faced in the previous fiscal year, summaries of goals met, and recommendations for the future. The 2014 report expressed concerns over the […]

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Oral Arguments Held in Appeal of First IPR

By Jonathan Kennedy On November 3, 2014, a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments in In re Cuozzo—the appeal from the first inter partes review ("IPR") instituted by the USPTO. As noted in our previouspost, the appeal presents a number of interesting procedural and substantive issues. While the oral argument did not […]

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Ways to Accelerate Patent Examination Before the USPTO Part 4, Final

By Jill Link As discussed in a series ofpriorpostings, there are various options to expedite examination and/or decrease the pendency and delays associated with patent examination before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). These include: (1) the First Action Interview Pilot Program (see Part 1); (2) Track One Prioritized Examination (see Part 2); (3) […]

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Ways to Accelerate Patent Examination Before the USPTO Part 3

By Jill Link As discussed in at wopostingslastweek, there are a few options to patent applicants to combat the long pendency, slow processing and delays in examination before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The First Action Interview (FAI) Pilot Program and Track One Prioritized Examination were discussed as options to expedite the pace […]

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